Commerzbank, German authorities launches investigation into sale to UniCredit | EUROtoday

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The Commerzbank file is changing into more and more sophisticated and the discontent with UniCredit's takeover bid is coming to mild in all its proof. After the instant protests of the unions and the doubts in some political circles, the Berlin authorities is now transferring, with an inside investigation into the sale of a portion of its shares within the German financial institution, which has allowed the Italian group to place collectively a big stake and launch the formidable merger try.

Placement below the lens

The Chancellery needs to research the location, which was supervised by the German Financial Agency. Under scrutiny is the sequence of occasions that led to the sale of the shares and why not one of the events concerned appears to have foreseen the chance {that a} strategic investor would purchase your entire 4.5% tranche of Commerzbank's capital. In different phrases, the end result of the operation is dissatisfying. The Ministry of Finance has already been referred to as to report back to Parliament.

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel managed to cobble collectively a 9% stake in Commerzbank, making the Italian financial institution its second-largest shareholder in a single day. Orcel later mentioned he was contemplating a merger.

Berlin on the counterattack

Surprisingly, Berlin seems to have been caught off guard: the federal government apparently anticipated institutional buyers to purchase small quantities of shares. The highly effective commerce union Verdi, which fears job cuts, rapidly vowed to combat the merger “tooth and nail,” and members of the opposition events CDU and the unconventional left Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) have expressed concern.

The funding shouldn’t have come as a shock, Orcel mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg TV earlier this week, including that the German authorities was “well aware” that UniCredit had already constructed up a 4.5 p.c stake in Commerzbank when it offered its state-held shares.